A crowd of 70 gathered to show their support for a ceasefire in the Israeli/Lebanese conflict at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur last night.

Organised by Amnesty International, the peaceful gathering started at 8pm. The crowd gathered around banners with slogans calling for, 'Ceasefire', 'Stop supply of Weapons' and some declaring that, 'War - an atrocity against humanity'.

A sizeable police presence was on hand to monitor the crowd - occasionally an officer would walk towards the banners to have a look at the message.

Executive Director of AI Malaysia Josef Roy Benedict spoke briefly on the purpose of the peaceful gathering, saying that "Malaysians had seen the catastrophic war unfold on television becoming a devastating violent atrocity against humanity with many lives lost, many thousands made homeless, families torn apart and livelihood crushed"

"We (Malaysians) need not feel powerless, being so far away. We must show that we feel strongly, that the war resonates with us here...as private citizens, people should have a stake in influencing government's decision", he added.

A two-minute silence followed, to remember those killed and the survivors of the war.

With candles lit, everyone stood in solidarity. The organisers led the crowd to sing John Lennon's Imagine accompanied by a two-man band on guitar and violin.

Malaysiakini interviewed some of the participants. Here is what some of them had to say:

"I'm here to show my support against the war. I'm having a slight fever and not feeling well..." said Nurul, a volunteer at Community Media Centre (Komas).

'All wars affect us'

One with strong opinions was Julian, a PhD student in anthropology at Melbourne University, who said, "You can't help but support this gathering because the whole situation in Lebanon is a sad story of destruction of lives. We protest not only to stop the attacks but to show that the government cannot stand idly by and let the killings go on"

Jason, an offshore oil and gas employee said that "any form of war is unacceptable".

"Human rights violation takes place in wars. All wars affect us - whether it happened near or far."

Zaidee and his wife brought their two children along. When asked why, they said that "they didn't want to bring up their children in a world of bloodshed, war and violence"

James, a lawyer who works near Dataran Merdeka said, "I'm here for the cause, to lend a voice, albeit a quiet one. I'm here to draw attention to the atrocities in Lebanon and the innocent lives lost."

Quietly, but surely, he added that "peace(ful) gatherings transcend race and religion...war kills not only people but human rights as well.

Andreae and Dani, a couple from formerly war-torn Yugoslavia, on tour in Malaysia who happened to come across the event, summed up the protest, saying, "Life is being taken. Guns are easier to obtain, violence is easier to start and peace is harder to find. We know - we are from the Balkans"

Julian, the anthropology student quoted the philosopher Jean Paul Satre, "We need not have hope to try".

As usual, when the police called for bersurai (disperse) , the programme had already ended.